Bird care articles

If you have a pet bird, Laporte Animal Clinic in Fort Collins is the premier veterinary clinic for ensuring that you are adequately taking care of your feathered friend. They provide bird care for a wide array of birds, from parrots to chickens. Each kind of bird requires their own specialized care and Laporte Animal Clinic is well-versed in caring for any kind of bird.

It’s common for the early signs of illness in birds to be overlooked by the birds’ owner. This is due to the fact that a sick bird will attempt to maintain a normal appearance for as long as possible. For this reason, owners should familiarize themselves with early signs of illness and also have a premier veterinary clinic on hand.

Evaluation of bird droppings is quite important when it comes to bird care and it’s a simple method for monitoring your bird’s health. Use paper towels, newspaper, or other smooth surfaces to line your bird’s cage so that the number, volume, color and consistency of the droppings’ components can be noted daily.

Normal Droppings

Feces can differ somewhat in color and consistency. Diets with high seed content usually produce dark green or black feces. Formulated diets create soft, brown feces. Urine is usually a clear liquid. Also, urates which are a creamy white waste from the kidney, are often suspended in the urine or wrapped around the feces.

Abnormal Droppings

A sick bird might exhibit the following when it comes to their droppings:

- Decrease in the total number or volume of droppings

- Color change to yellow or green of the urates or urine

- Increase in the water content of feces

- Increase in urine portion

- Decrease in feces volume with increased urates

- Presence of blood

The owner should evaluate several droppings under normal circumstances before becoming alarmed.

Laporte Animal Clinic performs blood work, fecal analysis and radiographs to help determine if your bird is sick. They can also provide more intensive medical bird care if necessary including incubators, oxygen therapy, and nebulization. They also provide bird beak, nail and wing grooming and gender determination.

If you have any bird care questions call Laporte Animal Clinic today at 970-490-1999 and make sure to keep an eye on your birds’ feces as a way to monitor their overall health.

Getting Started on the Right Talon: Proper Bird Care for Your New Pet Bird

If you have a traditional pet, like a cat or a dog, then you’re probably used to setting appointments with your local veterinary clinic for annual checkups. But did you know that the same health precautions must be taken when it comes to your pet bird too? It is actually even more important to schedule regular veterinary appointments for your bird, as they are often more susceptible to disease and have very subtle symptoms to such diseases.

From the time that you walk out the door with your new pet bird, a number of simple precautions should be taken to ensure that you get started on the right foot when it comes to appropriate bird care.

When you get a new pet bird, isolation and quarantine are a very important aspect of bird care. This is the first and most important thing that a bird owner can do. In order to protect other birds on the premises, it is recommended by the Association of Avian Veterinarians that all newly acquired birds be maintained separately from any other birds in the house for at least six weeks following their initial purchase. Quarantine is essential for all new birds, even those believed to be healthy, in order to avoid air-borne viruses that may be spread by air conditioning or heating systems. During this quarantine period, it is extremely important to take your new bird to Laporte Animal Clinic for a complete physical, fecal examination and screening for contagious diseases that might be spread to other birds in the house and even people.(such as the disease "Psittacosis").

Another valuable aspect of bird care involves finding and creating a relationship with a top-quality avian veterinarian, such as the avian experts at Laporte Animal Clinic. Once you have found your avian veterinarian of choice, an examination of your new bird should be scheduled within three days of purchase of your bird to uncover and prevent possible disease conditions, as well as to educate the owner in proper bird care.

Even if your new bird checks out as healthy, results of diagnostic tests in your bird’s initial patient record will provide valuable reference for future examinations. And because owners are usually unaware of symptoms that they’re bird might be exhibiting, continual annual check-ups are advised for early identification and management of potential disorders.

By taking into account these simple instructions, you can be rest assured that your new pet bird is and remains healthy and vibrant for years to come. Make an appointment for your pet bird today at Laporte Animal Clinic and feel confident knowing that your bird will be adequately cared for.

patries71 via Compfight

Sarah Wozniak

Staff Writer, Page1 Online Marketing

Determine Your Bird’s Gender at Laporte Animal Clinic

So you just purchased your new pet bird and you love having it around. It’s starting to establish its own personality and is quickly becoming your new best friend. You’re also starting to get the hang of how to provide proper bird care and the added responsibility is just what you were looking for in your life. Except there’s one problem….you’re still referring to it as an ‘it’.

In order for you to adequately care for your new feathered friend, it’s necessary to know the sex of your bird. There are many reasons why it’s important to know your bird’s gender.

Medical – If you know your bird’s gender during any sort of medical emergency you can be assured that your veterinary clinic has the proper information to diagnose your bird’s ailment as there are an array of gender specific diagnoses.

Behavior – Just like humans, when your bird reaches adolescence their personalities can change and knowing a bird’s gender can help to predict and re-direct certain kinds of bad behavior and can help build and maintain better long term relationships.

Bonding – Knowing the gender of your pet bird overall impacts feelings toward the bird and helps to define the relationship.

So how do you go about figuring out the sex of your bird?

By taking your bird to Laporte Animal Clinic you can easily determine your bird’s gender with the help of the first ever bird sexing kit created by Zoogen and performed regularly at Laporte Animal Clinic. Zoogen has a long history of providing innovative DNA-based sex identification services for birds and an array of other mammals. Only a small drop of blood is required for the test. It has helped to eliminate the need for uncomfortable surgical procedures traditional used in bird sexing.

The Zoogen process determines gender by analyzing the DNA found in a bird’s sex chromosomes. Females have two different sex chromosomes (ZW) while males have two of the same sex chromosomes (ZZ). There are often many variations of these chromosomes found in the thousands of birds that have been tested by Zoogen which is why they have the most experience. The results from every bird sample is compared with results from birds whose sex have been determined and Zoogen has the largest database of bird DNA so accurate and quality results can be assured.

So if you’re curious if you should be buying pink or blue items for your pet birds’ new home, swing by Laporte Animal Clinic for Zoogen bird sexing and you can be assured that you are equipped with all the knowledge necessary to provide quality bird care for your new friend.

Etrusia UK via Compfight

Sarah Wozniak

Staff Writer, Page1 Online Marketing

Laporte Animal Clinic and Harrison Bird Food Team Up to Provide Quality Bird Care

If you’re looking for the best in bird care products and services, look no further. Laporte Animal Clinic, Northern Colorado’s premier veterinary clinic provides the ultimate in bird care for a wide range of our feathered friends. Every bird requires different care so it’s important to have a resource available to you that is able to help you out when it comes to any aspect of taking care of your pet bird.

In addition to quality care, Laporte Animal Clinic is also proud to offer their customers the best in bird care products which includes Harrison’s Bird Food. Premium certified organic, Harrison’s Bird Food promotes healthier, happier and longer lives for your birds because after all one of the most important things that you can do to ensure a happy and healthy bird is to feed it right.

Harrison’s Bird Food is a family of organic, formulated diets, created by avian veterinarians and nutritionists with the health of your bird in mind. It is fully fortified with vitamins and offers a proven and complete diet that yields the best long term health results for your bird. It is also the only diet proven to prevent metabolic bone disease and also prevent and reduce cholesterol. With a wide range of formulas from high potency to recovery to probiotic and avian enzyme, there is sure to be a variety that is right for your bird in particular. Harrison’s also has an array of bird wellness products, kits, and publications created to guarantee your bird the best health and quality of life possible. Laporte Animal Clinic will help deduce which formula or products are best for your pet bird.

Laporte Animal Clinic also offers an array of more intensive medical bird care if that becomes necessary. These types of medical services include incubators, oxygen therapy, nebulization, as well as bird, beak, and nail grooming and gender determination.

Harrison’s Bird Food is only sold in quality veterinary clinics worldwide. If you’re interested in the benefits of feeding your bird Harrison’s, make an appointment with Laporte Animal Clinic today and you can be rest assured that your fine feathered friend is in the most capable of hands.

Sarah Wozniak

Staff Writer, Page1 Online Marketing

How to Provide Proper care for your Pet Birds

If you’re looking for a pet but are partial to non-traditional or exotic pets then a pet bird may be just the pet for you. Birds can make wonderfully fun and personable pets, however, just like with any other type of pet it’s important to do your research first to make sure that you can properly care for your potential new feathered friend. Research the different species of parrots and smaller birds, as they may have very different personalities and requirements, both physically and mentally, for good health.

Habitat

Proper bird care involves providing your pet bird with an adequately sized cage in which it can move around and spread out its wings. Use approved modern cages, with no zinc (heavy metal poisoning can occur from some older cages). Make sure that its cage is stocked with plenty of perches(a variety of diameters and types can help prevent foot problems-we also recommend concrete type perches -NOT sandpaper covered- to keep nails short and help beak grooming-Manzanita wood perches are a good type, also), a water dish, a food dish and line the bottom with newspaper to allow for quick and effective cleaning. Your bird’s cage needs to be kept in a room that is neither too hot nor too cold, out of direct sunlight and away from heating and cooling vents.

Birds also tend to dirty up their cages fairly quickly, therefore it’s important to replace cage liners and scrub down perches and bars at least once a week or even more if it’s looking particularly dirty. Change food and water every day.

Feeding

We strongly recommend pelleted diets like Harrison’s Bird Foods, make up 80% of your birds diet (with the rest comprised of a variety of veggies, some beans or “beany-corn mixtures”, sweet potatoes, fresh sprouts, limited fruits, etc)-WE DO NOT RECOMMEND SEED BASED DIETS FOR ANY BIRDS-these are severely lacking in calcium, proper levels of Vitamin A and E and many other nutrients-we see many sick birds and birds with feathering and other problems due to seed based diets. Talk to the friendly staff and doctors at Laporte Animal Clinic to see which pellet is best for your bird. We carry a full line of Harrison’s diets for all species of parrots, Cockatiels, Budgies, etc. We also have “Birdy Bread” and “Power Treats” as well as Lafeber’s products such as “Nutriberries”.

Play

Birds love to play and interact, therefore proper bird care involves keeping your bird active and entertained. Try some hanging toys, beak blocks or other similar colorful and entertaining items for your bird. There are lots of bird toys available so make sure to pick toys that are the right size for your particular bird. Toys that you can hide food in and puzzle toys are great to avoid boredom and feather picking problems, etc. Birds are also naturally quite social. Therefore if it’s the only bird in the home make sure that it gets plenty of attention and has time to roam and play. Consult your veterinarian before purchasing a new bird to be a companion-many species do not interact well, and new birds need a physical exam and quarantine period of 6 weeks before being introduced into the same room as your current bird.

Regular Veterinary Care

Make sure to book annual physical examinations and new bird examinations with your local veterinary clinic. The veterinarian can discuss options like routine bloodwork, screening for specific diseases, fecal testing, etc to make sure your bird stays healthy and detect any problems early. Laporte Animal Clinic is well versed in caring for any kind of bird that comes though the door. From parrots to chickens, you can be assured that the caring doctors and staff at Laporte Animal Clinic will provide the best medical bird care in the area as well as bird beak, nail, and wing grooming and gender determination.

Sarah Wozniak

Staff Writer, Page1 Online Marketing